Siena seems at first glance to be a typical Italian city; within its medieval walls the citizens wear designer clothes, carry cell phones, and indulge in superb local cuisine. But unlike neighboring Florence, Siena is still deeply rooted in ancient traditions—none more spectacular than Palio, in which 17 independent societies known as contrade vie for bragging rights in an annual bareback horse race around the central piazza. Into this self-contained world steps Robert Rodi, author of satirical novels and the memoir Dogged Pursuit: My Year of Competing Dusty, the World's Least Likely Agility Dog. A Chicago writer with few friends in town and a shaky command of conversational Italian, Rodi very quickly falls in love with the place. Here he relates his awkward, heartfelt, intermittently successful, occasionally disastrous attempts to become a naturalized member of the Noble Contrada of the Caterpillar. It won't be easy; as one of the locals points out, someone who's American, gay, and a writer is the equivalent of a triple unicorn in this corner of Tuscany.